People have to eat, even in a recession. So you might think that Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld has a cushy gig selling some of the world's most iconic packaged comfort foods. But since 2006 when she landed the top job at Kraft Rosenfeld, 55, has struggled to reinvigorate a giant that was losing market share at a time of rising costs.

The chance to cook with Martha Stewart prompted more than 1,000 USA TODAY readers to submit essays outlining why they deserve a turn at the burner with the queen of quiche. Read the top three submissions.

Texas officials who took 416 children from a polygamist retreat into state custody sent many of their mothers away Monday, as a judge and lawyers struggled with a legal and logistical morass in one of the biggest child-custody cases in U.S. history.